Welcome to the Southeastern Area Labor Federation of
Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO website. We are
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s union movement
representing over 200,000 union members. Our presence here
is to provide information on current interests and
activities within our collective organization. We
hope that you find our site useful and very
informative.
Why The November Elections Are So Important
We’re headed in the right directions—and we
can’t afford to go back. Some may get discouraged by the obstacles and
delaying tactics opponents keep throwing at us in Congress. But look at the
record: We’ve won the most significant health care reform since Medicare was
enacted. We’re about to win serious Wall Street Reform, jobs funding, aid for
workers who have lost their jobs, infrastructure investments and rescue funds
for states and communities.
And that’s just in Congress. The Obama
administration has made union elections fairer for airline, rail and other
workers under the National Mediation Board. Federal contactors now have to post
signs telling employees of their freedom to form unions. We now have a labor
secretary and leaders in federal workers safety agencies who care more about
protecting workers than protecting corporations. We’ve also put powerful friends
of working families in state legislatures, governor’s mansions and local offices
throughout the country.
To continue making gains for working families,
we have to keep electing the leaders who are on our side. And we have to hold
them accountable.
The stakes are higher than ever. Are we
going to be a country that invests in jobs and workers? Or will we allow Wall
Street, BP and Massey Energy to go right back to business as usual? Are we going
to help our states and localities climb out of their budget holes? Or will we
balance the budgets on the backs of public workers and cut services that make
our communities livable? Are we going to rebuild our economy for working
families? Or let it be handed back over to corporations and the wealthy?
11 million jobs have been lost since the
recession began. It’s up to us to make sure that the critical investment that is
needed to restore a sound economy is made. Wall Street gambling and speculation
created one of the worst economic situations seen in decades—Wall Street needs
to help pay for the jobs that they destroyed.
How We Can Make Wall Street Pay for Jobs
Pass President Obama’s proposal to impose
fees on Wall Street banks to pay back the cost of the bank bailout.
Tax Wall Street bonuses
Tax the income of hedge fund and private
equity managers, the wealthiest people in the country, at ordinary income
rates, by closing the carried interest loophole.
Impose a Financial Speculation Tax—a tiny
fee on financial market transactions, including derivatives, futures and
options. This tax would have no impact on real investors, would discourage
financial speculation and would generate $100 billion to $200 billion
annually for job creation.
THE Southeastern Area Labor Federation of
Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO
(SE PA ALF, AFL-CIO) is
an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the
working people in the following counties:
Our ability to create good jobs, ensure working
families have affordable health care and retirement
security, defeat unfair trade agreements and improve
and protect progressive public policies depends on
effective, people-powered mobilization at the local,
state and national levels year round. We cannot win
advances for working people or restore the freedom
of every worker to choose a union and bargain
collectively until we transform the laws and
political environment in our country.
The
Southeastern Area Labor Federation of Pennsylvania
is building a movement inspired by
action, forethought and solidarity to improve
workers' lives throughout the Southeastern
Pennsylvania region.
Visit our
Who We Are page for a complete list of
Officers, Executive Board and Staff.
The AFL-CIO’s new,
interactive Good Jobs Now website gives workers, people who have
lost their jobs and activists a chance to take action, share
stories find resources and, most importantly, be part of a
grassroots movement to help the nation climb out of its
10-million jobs hole created by the recession.
